THE ROAD MAP AND ISRAEL'S
SURVIVAL
VICTORY OR DEFEAT FOR ZIONISMYOU MUST CHOOSE

By Bernard J. Shapiro

It is clear to me that the present Likud government of Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is leading Israel to disaster. It is
also clear that nothing external is compelling this
self-destruction. The only thing that will save Israel is new
elections. The only way to speed up elections and thus save
Israel is by destabilizing the current government and causing it
to fall. This would force new elections and stop the insane
Oslo/Road Map process.

HISTORY

Over the last one hundred years, many governments have been
destabilized by the action of a determined group of its citizens,
not necessarily a majority. Two recent cases in this country are
the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-War in Viet-Nam Movement.
There is no doubt that Lyndon Johnson chose not to run for a
second term because of the anti-war movement. There is also no
doubt the Afro-American population would not have been able to
throw off the yoke of discrimination without non-violent protest.
In Israel it is obvious that the intifada succeeded, no doubt
because of the Israeli government's reticence in crushing it.

It is this reticence by democratic regimes to crush popular
uprisings that is the biggest weapon in the hands of groups
wishing to destabilize their government. This principle does not
work under autocratic governments such as Syria (Hama) and China
(Tiananmen Square).

TECHNIQUES

1.Demonstrations -- the larger the better.
Demonstrations will not in and of themselves bring down a
government. Good media coverage is essential to give the
population a feeling that the tide of history is turning against
the regime.

2. Civil disobedience -- the key to success. There is
one essential requirement for destabilizing a government and that
is for a determined group of people to be willing to go to jail,
be beaten by police, and suffer any consequence in the pursuit of
their political aims. More will follow later on organizing civil
disobedience.

3. The Wrench in the Machinery of Government

A. Physical - roads and bridges can be blocked by slow or
stalled cars.

B. Electronic - computer networks, telecommunications can be
adversely affected [10,000 people calling government offices at
the same time can paralyze the system].

C. Psychological - photo's can be taken of police and military
personnel who become involved in violent action against peaceful
demonstrators. Available now are miniature video cameras that can
be worn inconspicuously and send live feed to distant computers.
At a time and place of your choosing, you can compromise those
security officers involved in non-democratic violence against
demonstrators. Their names and photos can be publicized.

4. Resistance

A. Open revolt against authority - Democracies are
primarily based on voluntary compliance with the legal system.
When that democracy ceases to govern in the best interests of its
citizenry, with its security and survival, then it is lawful and
justified to resist authority.This includes refusing to
pay taxes, following illegal orders of the non-democratic army,
traffic regulations etc.

B. Mass demonstrations, including the right of
self-defense, are meant to intimidate the police and the
government. The horrible vision of civil war will restrain the
government. Knowing that the Zionist/Right will not physically
resist, gives the government strength to pursue suicidal
policies. The policy of not striking back at the Left (as
experienced during the "season") begun in the pre-state
days by Menachem Begin has had the effect of emasculating the
Right in its relations with the Left.

STRATEGY

While it is preferable to wage a non-violent campaign, there
are certain lessons one can learn from the Israel Defense Forces.

1. Most important: Do not give the enemy time to rest and
re-group. The IDF always advances in one massive push to victory,
never allowing the enemy a respite. The same must be true of the
demonstrations against Sharon. It is a mistake to agree to a
truce. A truce would give the government time to organize special
police units including female police officers to handle
demonstrators. The government has already learned that reservists
do not like this heartrending undemocratic task.

2. Attack in many places at once, causing physical and
psychological stress on the enemy. Demonstrators should not just
take over hills in YESHA, but should take over government offices
from Eilat to Metulla. Roads should be blocked all over the
country. In Jerusalem, with its many government offices and a
supportive religious population, you should be able to create and
sustain chaos.

CONCLUSION

Half measures will not work. Either we are at war with this
government or we are not. It was the IDF's failure to destroy the
intifada that led to much of our trouble. Remember the principle
of vaccinations: a tiny doze of the disease that allows the body
to build its immune system. Half-measures allow Sharon to develop
a resistance to the demonstrations. We must take the momentum and
build continuously to the day of victory. The decision is
ours.

A TIME FOR PEACE AND A TIME
FOR WAR

We find all the expressions of horror at the recent Rabbi's
ruling concerning a soldier's obligation to avoid abandoning army
bases and settlements to terrorists, to be hypocritical,
self-serving, and unfortunate. The Israeli government is in
rebellion against everything that Israel, Zionism, and Judaism
are all about. They are the ones causing the rift in the body
politic and they will be totally responsible for any resulting
violence.

When will the Nationalist Camp realize that we are "at
war already" with a PLO supported government that rules
Israel? At what point will Israelis realize that the CIVIL WAR
they fear, IS ALREADY TAKING PLACE AND THEY ARE LOSING? Why
don't members of the Nationalist Camp understand that FORCE is
being used by only ONE side and that is the government?
The monopoly on power must be broken or there is no hope.

Under the Nazis, the Jews of Warsaw numbered over 500,000.
They were depleted with regular deportations aided by Judenrats
(Jewish leaders). The Revolt in Warsaw began when the Jewish
population was down to 50,000 (or 90% murdered). At what point is
it OK to rebel? When is civil disobedience OK? When is civil war
a better course than suicide? All throughout history there have
been rebels and loyalists. History is usually written by the
victors but truly there is seldom a universally accepted moral
standard as to what is a proper rebellion and what is not. We can
say with absolute certainty, however, that the Jewish return to
Zion and our struggle today for Eretz Yisraelare
more righteous than any other struggle for national liberation in
the history of the world.

Conditions in Israel may have passed the period where civil
disobedience would be effective. A massive outpouring of Israelis
prepared to get arrested in civil disobedience would have stopped
the Oslo Suicide Pact 10 years ago. With the Road Map the
terrorists will be in charge. Jews will have a choice: being
massacred or abandoning their homes. Their ability to defend
themselves will have been thwarted by the government in collusion
with the terrorists.

Following my five weeks of research in Israel, I spelled out
(May-June 1994 issue of THE MACCABEAN) the nature of this
inevitable conflict:

THE PRIMARY INHERENT FLAW IN
THE OSLO AGREEMENT

THAT WILL LEAD TO MILITARY
CONFLICT

1. The Palestinians expect and will demand that every
Jew be removed from their areas of control including the whole of
Judea, Samaria and Gaza and Jerusalem.

2. The Jews of YESHA not only plan to stay in their
homes but will fight for them militarily. This obviously
conflicts with #1.

I also stated (numbers updated to 2003): "The number of
Jews in YESHA is about 250,000 (1994 -144,000). Not counting
women, children, and men over 50, leaves about 70,000 men capable
of resisting a PLO armed force. These men are all IDF veterans
and reservists with army issue Uzi's or M16's with at least two
clips (30 rounds per clip) of ammunition per gun. During my visit
I toured the whole area, and emphasized the need to get past the
shock and make serious preparations for the coming battles. Among
other things I recommended the following: (1) bring ammunition
supplies up to a minimum of 300 rounds per gun (2) stockpile
food, medicine and water supplies for 30 days in case the roads
are impassable (3) Each community needs several trucks armored to
withstand 60 caliber machine gun fire and small grenades (4)
begin constructing bunkers and hardened firing positions.

All Jewish villages are on the hills with a commanding view of
the area. The Arab villages control the roads creating a
strategic situation similar to the pre-state fighting of 1947-48.

Nine years have passed and since that report and events are
playing out exactly as I predicted. Arafat's PLO terrorists
planned to take over Judea and Samaria under Phase Two of the
Oslo Plan. The military struggle has begun in earnest. If
anyone believes this to be unlikely, stay posted and we will see
how the future plays out. The Jews of YESHA should not leave
their physical well- being to the good graces of Arafat, Peres,
Netanyahu, Barak, Mohammad Abbas or even Sharon. Certainly one
should NOT trust the UN, EU, Russia, or the US State Department,
who have their own interests

The Jews of YESHA must not be passive pawns in the political
surrender of their homes. They must fight the Arabs, where
necessary, to maintain their travel, water, and land rights. When
the Israeli government retreats, leaving them behind PLO battle
lines, they must be prepared to go on the offensive militarily to
secure safe contiguous areas of Jewish control. The defeatist
Israeli leaders, who have surrendered our Jewish rights to Eretz
Yisrael, should be told that there are still proud Jews
in YESHA who will give up neither their inheritance from Abraham
nor their right of self-defense.

Exercising one's right to self-defense is a moral imperative.
There is a lot of hypocritical talk coming from the government
about the danger of Jew fighting Jew. These warnings came from
the likes of Yitzhak Rabin who delighted in shooting Zionist
(Betar) teenagers swimming to shore after his forces sank the Altalena
in 1948. New more dangerous hypocrites are putting the Jews of
YESHA and all of Israel in life threatening peril. They care
nothing about Jewish lives!

Should the Jews of YESHA be forced into military combat --
most likely against Arabs, but, G-d forbid, perhaps also against
Jews -- they would be fully justified. They will be fighting for
the security of Israel and the future destiny of the Jewish
people. These brave Jews would be continuing the long tradition
of Hebrew Warriors, including Joshua, David, the Maccabees and
Bar Kochba, who fought against all odds to save their people and
their country.

The glorious Hebrew Warriors who defeated five Arab armies in
1948, three in 1967, and two in 1973 must not surrender their
Jewish homeland to an evil terrorist regime, who delights in
killing Jewish women, children, husbands, sons and daughters.

MAY THE ALMIGHTY WATCHMAN OF ISRAEL PROTECT HIS PEOPLE
FROM THE DANGEROUS ROAD MAP TO ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION. MAY HE
LIBERATE HIS PEOPLE FROM NON-DEMOCRATIC LEADERS AND RESTORE
ZIONIST RULE TO JERUSALEM.

[This article is updated from two editorials published in the
September 1995 & August 1995 issues of THE MACCABEAN..]

Bernard J. Shapiro is the Executive Director of the
Freeman Center For Strategic Studies and editor of its monthly
Internet magazine, THE MACCABEAN ONLINE and its
email broadcast, freemanlist.